Reproductive Freedom

In November 2023, Ohioans voted overwhelmingly to amend our state constitution to protect reproductive freedom, including abortion access through the Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety amendment. The ACLU of Ohio was proud to play a pivotal role in this campaign.

The ACLU of Ohio has been defending abortion access across the state through the courts for decades. Remain updated on the status of anti-abortion bills we have challenged in court.

Despite the onslaught of attacks against our reproductive freedoms, Ohioans have consistently shown up and fought back. Most recently, Ohioans made history by voting to amend our state constitution to explicitly protect abortion access. At the ACLU of Ohio, we litigate, advocate, and educate in order to protect Ohioans’ reproductive rights, especially when it comes to individuals having full control over their reproductive lives, from access to birth control to unbiased sex education to the right to have an abortion.

Abortion is one of the most common medical procedures performed today, and it’s incredibly safe. However, the Ohio General Assembly have passed dozens of restrictions over the last several legislative sessions that were designed to make it difficult if not impossible to get an abortion if needed or wanted, and this has effected already marginalized communities. Alarmingly, since 2011, states have enacted more restrictions to abortion than they did in the previous 10 years. With the Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety amendment in effect, our legal team is at work to challenge any laws that impede our ability to access this fundamental right.

The ACLU of Ohio is part of a vast, diverse coalition of reproductive rights advocates and organizations that aims to educate Ohioans far and wide about their reproductive rights and the fact that abortion is still legal in Ohio. Visit abortionislegalinohio.com for more information about accessing care near you.

The ACLU of Ohio firmly believes that everyone should have access to a full range of reproductive health care services, including access to safe and legal abortion. Since its inception, the ACLU has recognized that personal privacy and reproductive rights are among our most important constitutional liberties. In the 1920s, we successfully appealed the obscenity conviction of one of our founders, sex educator Mary Ware Dennett. In the 1940s, we opposed bans on the sale and use of birth control devices and information. Since the mid-1960s, we have been pioneering legal advocates for the right to contraception, the right to abortion, and the right to bear a child – essentially affirming the right to make your own family-planning choices. In the early 1970s, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg founded the ACLU Women’s Rights Project to push for change and systemic reform in institutions that perpetuate discrimination against women, focusing its work in the areas of employment, violence against women, and education.

The ACLU of Ohio was a proud member of Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights campaign, consisting of a statewide coalition of reproductive rights, health, and justice organizations that led the fight to amend the Ohio Constitution to protect reproductive freedom. Learn more.

• Ohioans Vote to Protect Reproductive Freedom
• Religious Communities Are Fighting to Preserve Reproductive Rights
• Ohio Faces Two Futures: One That’s Liberating and One That’s Oppressive

• Read our collaborative Ohio Activist Toolkit: Abortion Polling and Messaging in the Post-Roe World.
• Read the Post-Roe Ohio Activist Toolkit: Abortion Advocacy In Your Local Community.